


Trust

by LadyMerlin



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: And neither of them know quite where they are, Drabble, Gen, M/M, Post Beach Divorce, The line between Love and Hate is a fine one, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-15
Updated: 2011-12-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 18:37:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1789096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMerlin/pseuds/LadyMerlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Divorce, Erik learns something about Charles' chair that tells him all might not be lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

It happens in the middle of a battlefield, as is only appropriate. Charles would have been surprised if he'd met Erik anywhere else. They're not fighting each other, of course. No. Charles has done his very best to instill respect for differing views in his students, and he knows Erik would have done the same. They are not fighting each other. After all, they have a common enemy, nevermind that Erik has more enemies than Charles, on the whole, and he could go on about overlapping venn diagrams and things, but he won't. Because they're in the middle of a battlefield, and Erik is looking straight at him, eyes wide in shock.

He knows exactly what Erik is feeling, never mind that he still has that damnable helmet on. God knows, he could get through it, and it's not just arrogance, but it would take time and effort, and this is neither the time nor the place for it. So he knows what Erik is feeling despite his telepathy. Erik is feeling shocked, and horrified, and humbled, because he can feel the metal around Charles.  
  
More specifically, he can feel the steel rivets in his chair, and how the 'X' on the wheels, though mostly made of fibreglass, is woven with lines of silver, and how the plastic handles have rods of copper running through them, and how the whole body of his chair has at thin layers of iron in fibreglass tubes, and how it's enough.

Hank had protested when Charles had raised the idea, but of all the kids he was the most mature, and he eventually saw it Charles' way, of course. Charles was a very persistent man. He had hated the thought of a chair completely untouched by metal, because of Erik.

Because of Erik.

Metal reminded him of Erik. Sometimes it was cold, and sometimes it hurt, and it could cause agonizing pain if misused, but it was there, everywhere, and dependable, and reliable, and strong. And Hank had protested loudly, about how he was the enemy now, and that the design for the wheelchair would only put Charles at unnecessary risk. And Charles had ignored all of it, and eventually Hank had given in, and promised to not tell anyone else.

Because Charles knew Erik would never harm him. Neither would Magneto, despite their political differences. Because he wanted Erik to know he trusted him, more than anything in the world, more than any unstoppable force, or luck, or fate. He knew Magneto had left him on that beach, but he had returned with Azazel. Leaving him to die had never been an option, even if they weren't on the same side. And Erik was under the impression Charles hated him for causing his injury, and while Charles had been angry for a long, _long_ time, he had eventually let it go. Because Erik had had no way of knowing the bullet would hit Charles.

Because if Erik had known, Charles had no doubt he'd have stepped in the path of the bullet before he'd let Charles come to any harm.

And so they're standing in a battlefield where their people are fighting against violent anti-mutant rioters attacking homes of known mutant children, whom neither of them had been able to take in because they're too _young_ , and Charles knows that he'll have Erik his whole life even though it'll never be in the way he dreams of, because they're like parallel lines; always running together but not as one, with different goals in mind, never touching. Never, ever touching.

It is as if there is a moment of silence, and stillness, despite the destruction and devastation around them, because for the first time in a long time, possibly the first time ever, they understand each other perfectly, as if their minds are one and the same, and ironically it is without the use of telepathy. And he hopes Erik knows that Charles trusts him with everything. His life, his soul, his students. He might have a completely different ideology than Charles himself, and there will be students who agree and who disagree with it. But he knows if he was to die, Erik would take all those children in, and let them make their own choice eventually. That's all Charles ever wanted, outside their personal relationship. To keep the kids safe.

And there is no one he trusts like that apart from Erik, who will do it for Charles and not demand anything in return. Such people are few and far apart, Charles knows.

And now that Erik can sense the metal on his chair, and knows that he can pick Charles straight off the field of battle without anyone being able to do anything about it, least of all Charles... Well. He hopes the message gets through that damned helmet. And he knows it has, when Erik, with a look of fear and odd determination, pushes his helmet off, just for a little bit, so Charles can feel what he's feeling.

It stays with him for hours after Azazel has transported the Brotherhood off the field, and the X-Men and Women have taken the victims off on their jet. It stays with him long enough that he almost doesn't realise when it becomes Erik in his head, instead of an after-image.


End file.
